The Jun Mi Emperor
An emperor is simultaneously the loneliest and most crowded person in existence. He appear kind but capable of cruelty. Benevolent, but strict in punishment. Modesty, but must be the most dazzling in a room. A source of wisdom but constantly seeking more knowledge. The role of an emperor is one of contradictions and one who does not understand this will not last long. '' - An excerpt from ''The Thoughts From The Mountains, The Emperor's personal memoirs. My heart and my actions are utterly unclouded. They are all those of justice. The Jun Mi ( 峻密）Emperor, born Zhi Yijun, is the current emperor in the Sheng Dynasty. He has ruled Dongxi Lu with an iron fist for the past 40 years, leading it to many military successes and seeking to create a sense of unity throughout the empire. Empress Euthane regarded him as the only ruler alive who could truly challenge her in both war and peace. His striving to hold power has been paved with the blood of his enemies (including many of his own family), most notably during the Crown Legitimacy Crisis, when rivals accused him of being a bastard and thus not worthy of the throne. The riots which ensued where crushed with the utmost brutality and the subsequent purges brought even more death. During this time, he heavily relied on Ondor Gazar soldiers to crush the uprisings. Most notoriously were the disappearances of his two young nephews, who had been in his custody after their parents' had "mysteriously" died and whom many of the rebels wished to elevate to power. Since then, he has ruled peacefully and wisely, albeit with a conservative mind and a strong arm. Controversially, he has been striving to concentrate more and more of the administration and governing of the empire under his control, recently having his chancellor executed and the chancellery be abolished. He is also known as an aesthete and poet, with a fondness for gardening and the fine arts. He is feared and respect across the world as a true autocrat. Early Life and Rise to Power Zhi Yijun was born the fourth son to Zhi Wan, the Si Wu Emperor, and Lady Zhi Arezou, Yijun was never expected to succeed his father. However, his intelligence and charm led him to being given command of a northern border province at the age of 16. In spite of his youth, he proved himself a wise and discerning judge and a strong and persecuting military commander. No rebel leader or bandit chief crossed him and lived. This combination of civil savvy and military strength made Yijun beloved by his subjects. Things however took a sudden turn when Yijun was 18, when his father and one of his brothers died suddenly of a plague. Oracles declared the plague a bad omen and believed that it was the sign that the Sheng Dynasty was coming to an end (this was true from a practical point of view as with the exception of his father, the last hundred years had been marked by bad rule and corruption in the Imperial Court). Yijun and surviving brothers Zhi Qian and Zhi Arash met in the Imperial Capital to determine the next emperor, deciding that Zhi Qian should take the throne. Zhi Yijun and Zhi Arash would support him from the side as key officers. However, Zhi Qian's fondness for the finer things in life got the better of him and he died within four years, leaving only two young children behind. Moreover, his wife and her relatives (who had been given key positions in the court) were deeply unpopular due to their "barbarian blood". Zhi Yijun and Zhi Arash agreed that children on the throne at this point in time would be a terrible idea and decided to take the throne themselves. Ever the politician, Zhi Arash refused to claim it himself, but Zhi Yijun did. Gathering up an army from his home province, he marched on the Imperial Capital and demanded that the Dowager Empress' relatives be handed over for trial for their corruption and also called for himself to be made regent for his brother's eldest child. During all of this, Zhi Arash and Yijun's closest ally Ban Fuling bribed the guards and had them open the gates for Yijun. He was greeted with cheers and love from the people, as they knew of his victories and his wise rule in the northern provinces. He immediately had the children put under house arrest and had the three members of the Dowager Empress' family executed, but kept her in court as a token of respect. As a sign of good faith, he married her sister Xue Rong. With this and the support of the Imperial Bureaucracy and court, Zhi Yijun was crowned Emperor in the Spring and declared the Jun Mi Emperor. Early Reign and the Crown Legitimacy Crisis For the first twenty years of rule, Jun Mi established himself as a wise but ruthless emperor, taking great care to be involved in every aspect of imperial life and decision making. He spent hours pouring over memorials and petitions, and slept little. This ultimately led to friction with his wife, though in public appearances, they presented themselves as a loving couple. He also led several punitive expeditions against both the North and the Empire, proving his effectiveness as a commander against equal powers. He exacted heavy tribute from the North during this campaign, most notably after capturing several of the members of the Council of Twenty in battle. However this reign also saw the continued and harsh persecution of the "Barbarian races and peoples" throughout the empire, with stricter laws on them being set in place. All seemed to be going well for him, until twenty years into this reign when the old Dowager suddenly gave birth to a daughter (she had been unknown to the Emperor having an affair with her steward) at almost the same time as his own son was born. This caused him to realize the potential danger of his surviving nephews (now thirty two and thirty respectively) but knew that familicide would lose him the support of the clergy and literati. Then the riots began. Initially they seem to have started as an intellectual debate that grew violent when it was mentioned that the Emperor was secretly a bastard and not truly the son of Zhi Arezou. This violence began to spread through the city and was made worse when Zhi Arash began to give support to these rumours with a series of supposedly fake letters between Zhi Wan and his mistress. Soon, the Xue Family survivors joined in. The rioters began to call for the release and coronation of the two young nephews. The capital became a civil war battleground, with supporters of the Emperors clashing with supporters of the Xue family and Zhi Arash, while some simply used the time to trade and loot. The violence spread to the environs of the Capital and the surrounding provinces. Then came the most unkind cut of all, when Yijun's childhood friend and closest ally Ban Fuling joined the rebels with his forces. In anger, the Emperor dispatched the Imperial Guards and his most fierce supporters under the command of General Shui Yijun to crush the rebels with extreme prejudice. He also called on soldiers from the Ondor Gazar to assist in this. And so he did. It is estimated over 100,000 people died in the crushing of these riots. Most notoriously, at Anlu Boulevard, the Imperial Army deployed a portable iron wall and used it run over and crush the rioters and any unfortunates who got in the way. In other areas, soldiers closed the people into walled districts of city and fired volley upon volley of arrows until everyone was dead from either the arrows or suffocation from all the bodies. Zhi Arash committed suicide by drowning himself in wine to avoid being captured, while Ban Fuling was executed quite brutally and Jun Mi had his name removed from all books. The two nephews turned up dead five days later, strangled. While no one knows who was responsible, many believe it was the Jun Mi Emperor who ordered it. To be safe, he had Xue Rong imprisoned and poisoned, claiming she died after going on a hunger strike. Shui Yijun was then sent to eliminate the last of the Xue family, which he did with extreme prejudice. Only the Dowager, one handmaid, one servant, one loyal noble, and her young daughter were able to escape, though their current whereabouts are unknown or even if they are still alive. With this, the Jun Mi Emperor's throne was now firmly established and all threats were removed to his power. Present Rule After the riots, the Emperor married the noblewoman Ju Ning (who was a good decade younger than him) to solidify the support of the traditional aristocracy and the support of the Twelve Great Families. Through her, he gained the type of son he always wanted in her only child Zhi Chu, whom he has been training to succeed him. He has since ruled more or less the same as prior to the uprising, albeit more harshly. Although he initially praised the Ondor Gazar for their support of his armies in the campaign and the uprising, he quickly turned on them due to rumours that his surviving enemies were living amongst them. He imposed harsher taxes and restrictions on them than before. Moreover, he turned his eye harshly on any movement which appeared to be dissenting from the norm, opting to crush them immediately with extreme prejudice before they could attract many followers. He also only permitted the existence of the Order of the Plum Blossom because they profess loyalty to the emperor and Dongxi Lu, but he also fears them and would like to crush them before they get too popular. In addition, his desire for control recently led to him having his chancellor and his whole family executed and abolishing the chancellery as an institution. While his has led to more paper work for him, he has used this to ensure that he is the only avenue of power at court. With the recent death of Empress Euthane, many were surprised that Jun Mi did not take up an immediate campaign against the Orestians now that their most feared leader was dead. He refused, claiming that his invasion would only create unity, not sow division and so he will wait until they are at their weakest to strike. In the mean time though, he has ordered a full mobilization of the army and is gathering his strength for war. Against who, no one can say.